Paw-print indentations appear on a bed after a dog's euthanasia
A caller whom the host addresses as [name withheld], said to be in New Jersey, describes their Cairn Terrier's cancer treatment, remission, and euthanasia in 1993. They also describe a prayer they made for a sign that the dog was all right. They report that the next morning, sitting on their bed in their apartment, they heard a thump to their left and turned to see four paw-print indentations pressed into the mattress. They take this as a sign from God that their dog was fine. The host tells the caller he believes the story.
This clip comes from the source recording. AI chose where it starts and ends, so it may start or end a little early or late. The word-for-word transcript is not published. You can hear the source recording on the Internet Archive (file “Ghost to Ghost 1998.mp3”, starting at 1:20:59). Is this you, or someone you know? Ask for a correction or removal.
The story as told
The caller, whom the host addresses as [name withheld] and introduces as being in New Jersey, says they got a Cairn Terrier puppy from their father back in 1980. They describe her as a unique animal that was “my dog” even though they did not live with their mother and father. In October 1991, they say, she developed a lump on her back that grew. A vet diagnosed an inoperable cancer, fibrosis sarcoma, with a [quote withheld] The caller says they took her to eight or nine vets around New Jersey, and that friends thought they were becoming obsessed. They eventually reached a veterinary oncologist in Red Bank, Central Jersey, affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary College. They say the oncologist gave her an interferon-based drug, that the tumor receded and “popped off,” that surgery found no trace, and that she was cancer-free within three months. They also say she made the front page of the Asbury Park Press. The cancer returned in August 1993, and they say the family decided to have her euthanized. At their parents' home, about 80 miles south of where they lived, they prayed and asked God for a sign that the dog was okay. They then describe a game they used to play with her. They would pick her up, rock her, and gently throw her onto the bed so she landed with a thump. They say they got back to their apartment the next morning, on a beautiful August day, and were sitting on their bed when they heard a thump to their left. They turned and report four indentations of paw prints pressed into the mattress. They say they got a chill, that it was [quote withheld] and that they would have found the story hard to believe had it not happened to them. It made them believe there really is something after, they say, because they had prayed for it. They say they felt lucky that God heard and answered them. The host tells the caller he believes every word of it, then begins a story of his own about a cat.
Reported events, in order
- 0:08
The caller says they got a Cairn Terrier puppy from their father in 1980 and that she was “my dog” although they did not live with their parents.
- 0:33
They say that in October 1991 she developed a growing lump on her back.
- 0:44
They say the diagnosis was an inoperable fibrosis sarcoma with a 1% to 3% cure rate.
- 0:57
They say they took her to eight or nine vets throughout New Jersey and that friends thought they were obsessed.
- 1:10
They say a veterinary oncologist in Red Bank, Central Jersey, affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania Veterinary College, treated her with an interferon-based drug.
- 1:37
They say she was cancer-free within three months, the tumor receded and “popped off,” and surgery found no trace.
- 1:50
They say she made the front page of the Asbury Park Press.
- 2:00
They say the cancer returned in August 1993 and the decision was made to have her euthanized.
- 2:33
At their parents' home, about 80 miles south of where they lived, they asked God for a sign that the dog was okay.
- 2:41
They describe a game in which they picked the dog up, rocked her, and gently threw her onto the bed so she landed with a thump.
- 3:01
They say they got home to their apartment the next morning, in the middle of a beautiful August day, and were sitting on their bed.
- 3:26
They report hearing a thump to their left and turning instantly.
- 3:33
They report seeing four indentations of paw prints pressed into the mattress.
- 3:45
They say they got a chill and that it was [quote withheld]
- 3:49
They say it made them believe there is something after, because they had prayed for it, and that they felt God heard and answered them.
Claims
Each claim is labeled as something the person telling the story noticed (observation), what they made of it (interpretation), something others told them (hearsay), or something the host said (host statement).
- observation· 3:26
The caller reports hearing a thump to their left while sitting on their bed.
- observation· 3:33
The caller reports four paw-print indentations pressed into their mattress where nothing visible was standing.
- interpretation· 3:41
The caller concludes the event was supernatural in origin.
- interpretation· 3:49
The caller concludes the event shows there is something after death, given that they had prayed for it.
- interpretation· 3:56
The caller takes the paw prints as God answering their prayer for a sign.
- host statement· 4:02
The host says he believes the story.
Scores, with reasons
An AI model gave these scores using a fixed set of scoring rules (scoring-v1). They are editorial judgments and rough guides, not the odds that anything paranormal happened. How scoring works.
A firsthand story with a clear sequence, concrete dates and places, and a named newspaper, told in response to the host's questions. No one else backs it up, and the caller does not consider ordinary mattress or household-noise explanations. That keeps it below the “mundane explanations considered” anchor.
Evidence for and against
- Firsthand witness present at the reported event: [quote withheld] and [quote withheld]
- Concrete details: 1980 puppy, October 1991 lump, August 1993 return of the cancer, Red Bank oncologist, University of Pennsylvania Veterinary College, Asbury Park Press front page.
- A coherent sequence that answers the host's interjections without shifting details.
- The caller separates what they perceived (thump, four indentations) from what they concluded (a sign from God): [quote withheld]
- No second witness to the reported event; the caller describes being alone.
- The caller raises and rules out no ordinary possibilities, despite an obvious candidate in the mattress itself.
- The caller makes a strong assertion: [quote withheld]
- No documentation supports their story. The newspaper item is claimed, not produced.
- The automatic labels showing who is speaking are inconsistent across this part of the broadcast, so some lines are uncertain.
- It is not stated whether the dog had ever been on the mattress in the caller's apartment.
- 3:33
- 3:26
- 3:56
What the model inferred (not said on air): I weighed closeness to events, specifics, consistency, other explanations, and calibration from the transcript content. The newspaper and veterinary details could in principle be checked but were not.
The story rests on the caller's word alone. Details that could be checked (a named newspaper story, a named college, a named town) are given, but nothing was checked. The reported physical trace was short-lived and was not preserved or shown.
Evidence for and against
- Details that could be checked are present: [quote withheld] and [quote withheld]
- A physical trace is claimed: four paw-print indentations in the mattress.
- The indentations were not photographed, preserved, or examined on air.
- No second witness speaks on air. The event is described as happening when the caller was alone.
- The host's statement of belief is not evidence.
- The transcript does not show whether the newspaper story exists or what it said.
- It is not stated whether the mattress kept any marks after the event.
- 1:50
- 3:33
What the model inferred (not said on air): Placed in the 11 to 25 range because details that could be checked are named but unverified and no evidence was examined. It is capped well below 50 because no outside check was done.
The story is framed as comforting, not threatening. The caller treats the event as an answered prayer and a sign their dog was fine, and it happens in daylight. A single unexplained thump and dents in the bed give it a mild eeriness.
Evidence for and against
- An unexplained sound and marks appearing next to the caller on their own bed.
- The caller reports a physical reaction: [quote withheld]
- A dead pet is the implied source, which touches on grief and a private space.
- The caller reads the event as reassuring: [quote withheld]
- No ill will, threat, physical harm, or escalation is described.
- The story is one brief event with a positive framing.
- The story does not say whether the caller experienced anything more afterward.
- 3:45
- 3:56
What the model inferred (not said on air): Creepiness is judged as a quality the story has for a listener. The daylight setting and the caller's comforting reading pull the score down.
The [quote withheld] frame is a familiar one. But the specific sign, four paw-print indentations pressed into a mattress, echoing a game the owner used to play with the dog, is a distinctive detail. The daylight setting and the sign requested in prayer are less common.
Evidence for and against
- A distinctive central image: paw prints in the mattress, not a ghost of the animal.
- The event is tied to a specific remembered game of tossing the dog onto the bed.
- The sign is requested in advance through prayer.
- Dead-pet experiences and “sign” stories are recurring motifs in this genre.
- The structure, loss, prayer, sign, reassurance, follows a standard pattern.
- Originality compared with the rest of the archive cannot be judged here. This score is the model estimate only.
- 3:33
- 2:35
What the model inferred (not said on air): Rated between the “familiar frame” and “unusual phenomenon” anchors because the frame is common while the physical detail is not.
Scoring confidence 0.60 · analysis confidence 0.75 · checked against outside sources: no · evidence available: The caller's firsthand story; Claimed front-page newspaper coverage (Asbury Park Press), not examined; Claimed physical trace (paw-print indentations in a mattress), short-lived and not examined; No photograph, recording, or document presented. The originality score blends the model's score (48) with how rare the story's details are across the archive. This method is still provisional.
Ordinary explanations to consider
These are possibilities only. None is a finding about what happened.
- Old compression marks or foam memory in the mattress, plus a settling or spring noise, could explain the thump and the paw-shaped dents. · The caller says the impressions were [quote withheld] and describes a game in which the dog repeatedly landed on a bed with a thump. The impression was seen once and not examined or photographed.
- An ordinary household noise (settling furniture, objects, neighbors, building movement) could explain the single thump they heard to their left. · The only sound reported is a single unexplained “thump,” with no other sound or movement described in the apartment.
What stands out
The reported evidence is a physical impression, four paw-print indentations in a mattress, not a visible ghost animal. The caller presents the event as a religious sign they asked for, and it happened in daylight, not at night. The detail that echoes their own bed-toss game with the dog is specific to this story.
Related stories
Matched by shared recurring details, categories, and wording.